Sunny Side Up
by RaiLei
Summary: Oneshot. In which the group discovers that Norma's idea of cooking isn't all that great.


The darkened sky above started to slow disappear as the sun began to raise, the remains of the campfire dying out. Norma let out a sigh as she leaned back on her palms, glancing at the light sky above as she stretched her legs out before her. Fidgeting slightly – she couldn't sit still _that_ long – she glanced from the sky to her companions littered around the once-burning fire.

Moses laid not that far from her, his spear lying within reach as he leaned back against Giet. She rolled her eyes; no doubt he could still attack in the blink of an eye. Grune was still curled up, her head resting on her arm. She shook her head when she saw Chloe and Senel – no doubt the two of them had been up talking _all_ night again – the soldier's head resting against Senel's shoulder. Norma rolled her eyes; she'd never understand them. She grinned, however, when she noticed Shirley's head on the Marine's lap – he was _definitely_ popular with the ladies, it seemed. As for Will and Jay, she didn't see them around the fire, but shrugged her shoulders; Will was probably off writing his research report while Jay was most likely looking for any sign of the Terrors or their soldiers.

Lost in her own thoughts, she blinked as her stomach rumbled.

Last night had been Grune's night to cook – which was bad luck to begin with – but what made it worse was that their basket was practically empty. Norma remembered curling her nose up at what had been made and had given it to Giet when no one was watching.

"I'm hungry," she grumbled, pushing her brown hair away from her face as she glanced around their surroundings. "Where's that Mimi when you _need_ her . . .?"

A smile slowly appeared on her features as Moses and Giet caught her eye. Nodding to herself as a plan formed in her mind, she pushed herself up off the ground, slowly moving closer to the red haired bandit.

"Hey, Red," she whispered, dropping down beside him. A frown marred her features as he didn't reply and shaking her head, reached forward, prodding him. "Wake up."

She knew the bandit had good reflexes, but she wasn't expecting _that_. When her fingers had touched his arm, the bandit's eyes had snapped open, his hand flying to his side, his fingers curling around his spear. Surprised, the treasure hunter had let out a sputter, falling back onto her backside, glaring at him.

His eyes narrowed, Moses raised an eyebrow as he saw Norma sitting before him, a scowl gracing her features. Slowly, he dropped his spear to his side, reaching back to pat Giet's fur; the beast growling lowly. "What's your problem, Bubbles? It ain't even light yet."

"I know _that_," Norma chirped, still glaring at him as she moved to sit up. "But, I'm hungry, aren't you?" – here, she curled her nose up – "Or, did you _actually_ eat what Grune made?"

Moses shook his head. "That girl . . . I don't care what that Senel says – we're getting food in the next town one way or another," he muttered, glancing back at Giet.

"_One way or another_, you make it sound so ominous," Norma giggled, brushing the dirt off her yellow outfit. "Are you planning on _stealing_ it if Senel doesn't give you the Gald? I can see you doing that, anyway – but I was actually going out to the forest . . . I need some company. So, let's go."

Moses blinked at the chattering girl before him. "You're planning on finding food in the forest? You ain't any better a cook then Grune," he grumbled, closing his eyes as he leaned back on Giet. "I ain't helping you _poison_ everyone, get Grune to help with that."

Norma glared at him as she pushed herself up off the ground, placing her hands on her hips. "I don't _need_ her help, I'm capable of getting it myself!" And stomping her foot on the ground for good measure, turned on her heel and stalked off.

Moses rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh as he leaned back against Giet. Stretching his hand out to scratch the Galf, he shook his head as he slowed his eyes to the rising sun. "She ain't gonna last _five_ minutes out there . . ." His lips turned up into a slight smirk as he heard a muffled yell of _"Grave!"_. "Maybe not even Giet; maybe not even . . ."

---

Senel shook his head, his eyes narrowed in the direction of the tree lines. "Where _did_ Norma go? Are you sure she didn't say where she was going, Moses?"

"What if something _happened_ to her?" Shirley pondered, her hands wrapped around her knees as she glanced from Moses to Senel. "Maybe we should go look for her –"

"Norma knows where we are," Chloe broke in, shooting down the idea. "If we go looking for her, we'll _never_ find that girl. Knowing her . . . she'll just randomly reappear – like always."

Senel let out a laugh, stretching his arms over his head. "At least she keeps it lively."

"I could do without it though," Jay commented, glancing over at Grune, who was rooting through their basket again. "It makes planning things that much harder with a wild card in the mix."

Moses narrowed his eyes at the teen, before returning his attention to Giet. "Bubbles'll be back, she ain't that careless."

Chloe let out a small laugh. "You weren't there in the Crystal Forest though . . . she's careless."

"Hey – I **heard** that!" Norma's voice sounded, the treasure hunter pushing her way out of the trees, her hands full. "I'm _not_ careless! Besides, I got up _early_ just to make something to eat for everyone! So . . . you can put _that_ down, Grune."

Grune blinked, looking from Norma to the almost empty basket and back to her. "Well, if you're sure . . ." Slowly, she dropped the items back into the worn basket. "And I had something really good in mind too."

Norma let out an awkward laugh before shaking her head. "Anyway, today we're having eggs sunny side up!" And grinning widely; dropped her collection onto the ground.

Senel blinked, raising an eyebrow at the beat up collection at Norma's feet, while Chloe gave a slight giggle of laughter, hiding her face in her hands. Jay rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh as he shrugged – he didn't _want_ to know what was going on her mind.

Clasping her hands behind her back, Shirley had crossed the small campsite, kneeling down in front of the collection. "Aren't these . . .?" she trailed off, stretching her hand out towards them.

"You got it Shirl!" Norma chirped, throwing her fists into the air. "They're those stupid monsters – let's see them squish us now," she added lightly, a smirk on her features.

Moses let out a laugh at Shirley's expression, thumping Norma on the back. "You know Bubbles – only you'd think of that."

Norma sighed, pushing Moses's hands away from her. "You make it sound so bad," she whined, glaring at him. "Like you'd do any better, I've seen you're cooking."

"So, how're you planning on cooking them, Norma?" Will asked, slightly interested as he made his way over to the gathering group.

"Cooking them?" Norma blinked, staring from the pile at her feet to Will. "Fire up that campfire Teach – we're roasting them!"

"Roasting them?" Shirley mumbled, looking wide eyed from the monsters to Norma. "But that's just cruel!"

"Squishing us is cruel too," Norma responded, bending down to scoop up the monsters. "An eye for an eye, I guess."

"You're actually pretty evil there, Bubbles," Moses said, watching the treasure hunter.

"She's almost as barbaric as the bandit is," Jay grumbled, watching with cool eyes from across the site as Shirley cried out, "That's really mean Norma!" effectively drowning out Jay's monotone voice.

Norma only shrugged as she juggled her collection as she started towards the fire pit. Sighing as she reached it, she dropped her collection again, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around. "We just need some wood . . . do you still have the matches, Chloe?"

"Yeah, they're in my bag," the soldier responded, a smile on her face as she watched Norma's antics. "You're not _really_ going to cook them are you?"

"I'm roasting them," Norma corrected, moving over to their small pile of firewood. "That is unless _you_ want to eat Grune's cooking again . . ."

"Fine," Chloe sighed, waving her hand in Norma's direction. "But . . . will they _taste_ good?"

"No clue," Norma chirped, fishing out the matches. "But . . . it can't be any worse then Grune's . . ."

Chloe blinked, shaking her head as she glanced at Senel. "You know, I think I would rather take my chances with Grune, you?"

Senel nodded, glancing warily at Norma – who had a small fire going again – to Grune, who was sitting dejectedly near the back of the clearing, the basket still in her hand. "I think you're right on this one Chloe," he mumbled, picking himself up off the ground and making his way across the campsite.

---

A/n: I think I got characterization right, but I'm only on Chapter 5 so far, so let me know! I love Norma's character and this is something that I could see her attempting to do. When I first saw the "Sunny Side Up" monster, all I could think was that was a _unique_ name, so I had to write it down!


End file.
